9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Hidden Nature of Leading, November 16, 2005
This review is from: Fit In, Stand Out: Mastering the FISO FACTOR - The Key to Leadership Effectiveness in Business and Life (Hardcover)
One reason we buy books on leadership is to acquire other people's wisdom: the wise words, the principles, the five points, or even just a few strategic shortcuts. But the bottom line is that being a leader is all about managing self with other people.
I think one of the best books on this topic is Blythe McGarvie's Fit In, Stand Out: Mastering the FISO Factor (2005). The book offers practical, rational ideas on the skills needed by leaders in today's world, and also (surprise!) gives readers the opportunity to learn from personal stories. In 1995, McGarvie was one of only 10 CFO's in the Fortune 500 companies. She can walk the walk.
In her book she states, "Even the most powerful leaders must fit in to ensure others will respect and follow them; however, leaders must also stand out from the group to be recognized and to drive corporate growth and change." She describes learning how to stand out and fit in as a process of transformation and integration that occurs in significant linkages. (She uses terms like "social capital" and "linkages," which are better known in the corporate world than psychology's R word - relationships.)
Clearly, McGarvie understands that leaders must find ways to handle self in relationships if they are to function at their very best in groups. As I read her book, I realized that although McGarvie has no official training in psychology, she sees the main point found in Family Systems Theory. She sees the real organizational obstacles and challenge to being an emotionally separate individual. In addition, she has found methods to enhance people's ability to function as knowledgeable leaders.
McGarvie used stories from other leaders and her own life to reveal the inner dynamics of what is required to become balanced corporate leader. She is clear about the difficulties and the long-term consequences of staying in relationships with others. Personally I find she describes the central challenge of being a more "differentiated" individual in a group setting without using the psychologically oriented words.
McGarvie helps us understand the limits of adapting by retelling the story of Alice in Wonderland. Alice, you'll remember, found herself in a place where there were no clues, no real communication, and where, as McGarvie noted, "fractured logic, paradox and contradiction rule the day." Does this sound like a familiar nightmare? Even for the best of us, even when our goals are clear, fitting in and adapting to a particular culture may be just too costly. In such a situation, McGarvie notes, trust yourself and climb out of the rabbit hole by using your ability to become a team player on another field.
There are hidden treasures to find in this book, but I of course treasure that McGarvie can tell her own story. She learned, she tells us, from watching her mother closely monitor the family accounting and from watching her father try to "fit in" at the University of Chicago's Ph.D. program. From her mother she found a love for numbers and keeping track of all things financial. She also learned the importance of a well-run family or organization. From her father she learned the power of persistence. Those are some great lessons.
Leaders such as McGarvie are often natural or even gifted observers. They often have very powerful memories and are able to recognize patterns in a few moments or in a few words. But the best is that they encourage us to "conform to the values of an organization only as long as its standards are within the boundaries of our integrity and values."
After redaing this book people might have more fun knowing that fitting in and standing is a natural process that we can "learn."
[...]
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fit In Stand Out - An excellent guide, November 2, 2005
This review is from: Fit In, Stand Out: Mastering the FISO FACTOR - The Key to Leadership Effectiveness in Business and Life (Hardcover)
I found Fit In Stand Out fun and interesting to read, with alot of great tips that you wouldn't find in other books of this nature. The advice is practical and down to earth and you can tell the author has solid real-world experience to draw upon - something you can't say for alot of leadership books. I found her advice on fitting in while also standing out good and think I will find alot of her tips useful. It is very hard to navigate the ever shifting waters in companies where you need to balance the seemingly opposing values of fitting in, and also standing out. I appreciate this book and am glad to have it as a guide for me.
DAM
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Be frugal with this one, May 26, 2011
If you are interested in launching a buiness career, be warned that this is a text full of soft advice that is fairly commonsensical. The author's contacts et.al. do add some glint to her book, but it is only a surface shine. There is little here that most readers do not, honestly, already know. If you are a business insider, you may find this a pleasant soporific. If you are trying to get into this nexus, do not spend your hard-earned money on trifles like this one. It won't help, trust me.
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